Last Days

Christopher and Emily and I went out for Korean food. That stuff is really good!
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All of those lights in the sky are lanterns. There were thousands of them.
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Street vendor near the train overpass during Lantern festival.
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This was People Square in Linping during the Lantern Festival.
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So my final days in Linping are fast approaching. I've been wrapping up loose ends, cleaning and deciding where to go and what to do. I've said most of my goodbyes, gotten rid of a bunch of stuff and transferred my cash to my Canadian account. In a week, I'll be hanging out with Clay and Amy in Hangzhou. No responsibilities. Just friends and good times ahead.

The country list looks like this...

China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, Jordan, Israel, England and Canada.

Urban Explorer

What happens when you have free time and google earth? You find cool, bizarre places that are near your house.

Enter Tiandu City. An entire city that was recently built entirely in a French Colonial style, complete with an Eiffel tower replica. I spent the day there today taking pictures and had a strange feeling. Here I was, in a town that was way out of the ordinary. Add to the fact that since it is very new, most of the building are empty. This leads to a lack of people milling about. It is effectively a ghost town.

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Somedays I feel like I am in a movie. Walkng around with my iPod gives me the soundtrack, people all seem like extras. It is a little surreal to think that I have lived in China for nine months. I've been thinking about what I want to do next year. The more I think about it, the more I think that China is still going to be my residence. Just trying to decide on Shanghai or Hong Kong.

InTime Fashion Show

Being the only foreigner photographer has it's advantages. First, I am taller than the Asians, so I often just shoot over their heads. Second, being a tall foreigner, the models gaze is naturally attracted to me as I stand out. Hence, my ratio of "models eyes looking into the camera" is really high.

These shots are from the InTime Wedding Show. As the weather is finally nice again (i.e. not 35' C) the wedding season is going to start going nuts.

Unrelated note, why do the Chinese have this fear of planning holidays in advance? In Canada I KNOW when National Day (Canada Day) is. It is the same day every year, and the stat holiday is planned a year in advance. Here, no one can plan more than a week in advance. Drives me nuts some days...

I have NGC TV!!!!

So I was blessed with National Geographic TV today. Back in Canada I would often spend many a Sunday, sitting on the couch watching Crisis Zone while drinking coffee. Now it looks like I will be able to do it in China as well. Just swap coffee for green tea and couch for bed...

A Little Surprise

So just a quick little post. Turns out I have been nominated for an OCNA award (the Student photography award)! I got an e-mail from a reporter asking me about how it feels to be nominated. Well to say that it totally came out of left field is an understatement. Looks like it is down to me and two other classmates. All three of the nominees are Loyalist students. Just goes to show how the school is dominating the photo school industry. Wish me luck come April 5th.